Vic lamb isn't sheepish on Batman trail

An orphaned lamb has proven popular on the Batman by-election campaign trail.

Politicians are often accused of acting like animals, but can a timid lamb change attitudes on the mean streets of Canberra?

That's the question Jeremy the lamb is posing ahead of the March 17 by-election for the federal Melbourne seat of Batman, where the woolly creature held a sheep-and-greet with voters at a pre-poll booth on Friday.

Supporting Animal Justice Party candidate Miranda Smith, the orphaned six-month-old lamb wasn't sheepish about his message - encouraging residents to vote for a party supporting all animals.

"We're conditioned very much in Australia to put cats and dogs in very different boxes to sheep and cows, but they're exactly the same," Ms Smith told AAP on Friday.

"So we really just want to make that connection for people and really push the major parties to actually listen to the Australian public, who are strongly for banning live exports and battery-hen cages."

Jeremy was one of the millions of Australian lambs orphaned each year, usually left to die after their mothers perish in brutal winter conditions.

But the young jumbuck was given a lifeline when a Melbourne couple rescued him from a Victorian farm along with 11 others.

"He and his fellow lamb brothers and sisters grew up in Georgie and Ward's house wearing nappies, running around, sleeping by the fire, napping on the bed until they moved out into the paddock," Ms Smith said.

"He's very much a pet. He thinks he's a dog. He knows his name, he walks on the lead so no different."

Ms Smith said she hoped Jeremy's presence could garner an improved primary vote in the progressive Batman electorate.

"We know by getting people to vote one for the Animal Justice Party, no matter who they put second, those major parties will see just how many people in the electorate actually do care about animals," she added.

The poll is largely considered a two-horse race between Greens' candidate Alex Bhathal and Labor's Ged Kearney.

When Jeremy isn't on the campaign trail, he lives at a rescue farm in the Macedon Ranges and will never be eaten or sold.